This blog provides updated forecasts and comments on current weather or other topics

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Amazing Videos and the Latest Snow Totals

Last night there was blizzard-like conditions around our area...with the Hood Canal and environs being particularly hard hit. Check out this video from Silverdale on the Kitsap Peninsula courtesy of Dale Ireland. Their power is still out...

The conditions were treacherous last night on the city hills...and it didn't take a lot of snow/ice to make the roads impassable. This is one of the most amazing videos I have seen on this topic and the music really works:

1. I thought Metro was taking accordion buses out of service when they switched to snow routes? Yesterday and today I saw several accordion buses in service, and it was an accordion bus jack-knifing that caused I5 backups last night.

2. The one plow I saw out actually plowing didn't have his plow fully deployed. There was half an inch between the plow and the pavement (the right corner was low enough to hit the snow, but that was it)? Incompetence? Equipment malfunction? Or a return to the "snow-packing" of 2008 rather than actually plowing?

Thanks for the link to the video. My stomach was in a knot for 5 minutes! Out here on the Key Peninsula (west Pierce county), the big story is trees on power lines, trees on roofs, trees on cars, etc. The north wind played havoc with big old trees that haven't seen big gusts from that direction for years. Folks near us will be out of power for days. Without power, their water pipes will be vulnerable, too.Hopefully, a "good" event like this, this early in the season, should encourage more folks to prepare for such events.

I see the UW is open for Wednesday. The comments on that site show many unhappy people. I just hope Peter made it to work at Meadowbrook and back (he has moved out).

We shall see if the community college is open. Older boy will just take the bus, we'll see about daughter going to her Running Start class.

We have two new neighbors who both work at the UW. One is from North Carolina and they are loving the snow... though I did tell the little girl to have a grownup to watch for cars as she went down the street (and told her she was welcome to go down our driveway!). The other one is from Colorado, and has discovered the difference between dry blowing snow and snow that has been driven on within a few degrees of freezing (our street is an ice rink).

The record-setting snowfall — the previous record of 1.5 inches was set more than 30 years ago, in 1977 — has crippled the city that rarely sees much of the white stuff." Please tell me this record is false, because it doesn't sound true.

Oops, I was fooled by facebook. The vid still goes to show what can happen under the right (or wrong!) conditions. Be careful on Thanksgiving morning when a little fresh snow may hide and lubricate the ice.

Whoah, that was Time Magazine propagating the absurdity that Seattle's new record snowfall is 2.5 inches, and the previous was 1.5?? Where the hell did they get that? The record snow events for Seattle are more like 2.5 *feet* or more (1916, 1950.) I recall the New Years 1996-97 event ended up being something like 30 inches on the ground before it turned over to rain.

And to say the city "rarely sees much of the white stuff" kind of depends on your definition of "rarely." Historically, most winters at some point, sometimes several times.

I can't believe all of the people squacking about making it illegal to drive on hills and such...it is already ILLEGAL TO LOSE CONTROL OF YOUR VEHICLE. There are many of us out there who are not retarded and:A. Plan our routes correctlyB. Have appropriate experience driving in slick conditionsC. Own the proper equipment and have practiced with that equipment.D. Really more on C- proper equipment doesn't just mean something the car dealership sold you some POS SUV claiming "you can get around in the snow just fine!". PROTIP: The number of wheels driven doesn't mean squat without the right tires and the skill to drive the vehicle in those conditions.E. I'm really rehashing this but TIRES ARE THE NUMBER 1 MOST IMPORTANT THING ON YOUR CAR. Period. In any conditions.

Seattlites and KC METRO in particular please pull your head out of your collective ass and recognize you can't drive. That means CLASSTIME and PRACTICE. Not buying a ****ing SUV.